Caroline Kennedy, nominated for ambassadorship, worth as much as $500 million

Caroline Kennedy’s personal fortune could be worth as much as $500 million, according to a report on Monday, making President Barack Obama’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Japan wealthier than previously thought.

The New York Post quotes a legal source who reviewed Kennedy’s filings, saying the daughter of President John F. Kennedy is likely worth between $250 million and $500 million.

“She’s very rich,” the source says.

Documents reflect holdings in family trusts, investments through Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, Goldman Sachs
/quotes/zigman/188479/quotes/nls/gsGS, Vornado Realty Trust, and others, as well as almost $1 million annually from speaking fees and book royalties.

Harbinger Capital on Monday agreed to pay a fine, and hedge-fund adviser Philip Falcone was barred from the securities industry for at least five years, after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the hedge fund manager of improperly using $113 million in fund assets to pay his personal taxes, secretly favoring certain customer redemption requests at the expense of other investors, and conducting an improper “short squeeze” in bonds issued by a Canadian manufacturing company.

Obama nominated the 55-year-old attorney to be the U.S. ambassador to Japan on July 24. The post requires Senate confirmation.

Kennedy refused to release her financial records when she briefly sought the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton in 2008.